Water Technologies

Water technologies from Veolia South Africa encompass several process treatments of industrial effluent, municipal wastewater and municipal drinking water. Our technologies help these sectors manage the way they use water with viable and effective treatment technologies. This means Veolia has complete water solutions for Africa.

Veolia Water Technologies South Africa designs, builds and commissions world-class water management solutions for every application for both water treatment and wastewater treatment.

Clarification

Water clarification helps remove suspended solids and particulate matter which improve settling. Water clarification systems are either rectangular, where water flows from end to end, or circular, where flow occurs from the centre outward. Water clarification is used in the treatment of industrial effluent, municipal wastewater and municipal drinking water as pre-treatment to further purification processes.

Filtration

Filtration may be used in the treatment of industrial effluent, process water, municipal wastewater and drinking water. It is also used as a pre-treatment step to membrane processes and desalination of seawater.

Oxidation & disinfection

Disinfection of water by physico-chemical means entails the destruction of disease-causing organisms in order to prevent their spread. Additionally, processes such as ozonation and ultraviolet irradiation also aid in the destruction of biological contaminants that remain in the water after treatment. These processes are used in potable water treatment, industrial effluent reclamation, municipal wastewater treatment, as well as ultra-pure water applications.

Ion exchange

Ion exchange is a process in which ions are exchanged between a solution and an ion exchange resin, either cationic or anionic. It is a reversible process and the resin can be regenerated for re-use. The process is widely used for water softening in industrial and residential applications.

Sludge treatment & handling

Increasingly sludge is being viewed and treated as a source of valuable by-products and agriculturally beneficial ingredients, such as phosphorus extracted from struvite. For many sites, however, the real pay-off comes in the capacity to recover energy. Managing the increasing sludge volumes generated by municipal and industrial water and wastewater treatment processes is a major environmental challenge worldwide.

Evaporation & crystallisation

Thermal processes, such as evaporation and crystallisation, are used in a variety of industries, but their application in water treatment normally involves either the recovery of water from a brine or waste stream or the production of potable or process water from seawater. Usually evaporation and crystallisation are used in combination with other processes, such as reverse osmosis, in order to establish a Zero Liquid Effluent Discharge plant.

Membrane bioreactors

An effective process for treatment and reuse of industrial and municipal wastewater, Membrane Bioreactors, or MBR, combines a membrane separation process such as microfiltration or ultrafiltration with a suspended growth bioreactor.